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The strangest flirtation in Washington is the ongoing courtship between a subset of Republicans and the Teamsters union.
It could also be among the most economically destructive.
This May Day-November relationship is built around mutual neediness: Union membership is trending down.
Only 6% of today’s private-sector workers belong to a labor union, down from 10% in the mid-1990s.
Some DC Republicans, most notably Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, reckon that if they tilt federal labor rules even further in the Teamsters’ and other unions’ favor to help them make up those losses, the unions will be moved beyond words and help the party win more elections.
Hawley in particular sees overlap in the Teamsters’ interests — particularly their ongoing crusade against self-driving cars — and his personal brew of grievance-tinged nationalism that broadly treats automation as a threat against the American worker.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
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Ken Girardin is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute